TODAY is the first anniversary of Jeremy Corbyn losing the Labour whip. The previous day, the national executive committee (NEC) had reinstated him into the Labour Party after a patently unjust decision to suspend him, only for the Labour leader Keir Starmer to announce on Twitter: “I have taken the decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. I will keep this situation under review.” 

There has been no review and no discernible process behind his decision — only Starmer’s claim that “the disciplinary process does not have the confidence of the Jewish community.”

This was not, and still is not, the view or experience of the Jewish residents of Islington North, orthodox and secular, with whom Corbyn has built strong and constructive relationships over many years.

I am one of 25 Jewish members of his Labour Party who have signed a letter demanding that the whip be restored, saying: “[W]e have always felt safe, welcome, and supported in everything we do in the locality and in the party. We know much more intimately than his critics exactly how committed Jeremy Corbyn has been, throughout his time as our MP, to challenging and eradicating any form of racism, including antisemitism, from whichever quarter.

“We also respect and value his consistent and determined support for migrant and refugee communities.

“We have been very pleased to be able to campaign alongside him in his work against racism, and also in his work for social justice and human rights at a local and global level, including justice for the Palestinian people.

“We share with him a belief that there is no contradiction between standing up against antisemitism and standing for justice in Israel/Palestine.”

Corbyn’s commitment to international questions is not in conflict with his equally deep commitment to addressing the most local issues that directly affect people’s lives and life chances.

In 2013 I went to a demonstration to make Archway Bridge, known locally as “Suicide Bridge,” safer.

The action, organised by a bereaved family, was small — fewer than 20 people — but Jeremy came to support them.

He spoke with humanity and real understanding of what can drive people to such despair and the devastating impact on the people close to them — and of the failure of society to support them. The bridge now has barriers. Lives have been saved.

Two years ago, a group of us went out canvassing with Corbyn in Holloway Road. This busy trunk route, the A1, cuts through Islington North, where it is a mixture of small shops and cafes, supermarkets and a local department store, a university, a market, housing estates and rapidly built student flats.

Masses of brightly coloured flowers tumbling from planters on the barriers between the carriageways soften the edges of this harsh urban setting, where the gulf between the richest and the poorest is vast, and the problems people face are often extreme. 

As we walked, people came out of corner shops, cafes and barbers’, and shoppers, students and passers-by stopped to talk to him.

There were constituents he had helped, who greeted him as a friend, and people who disagreed with him on particular issues. He made time for all of them. Whoever they were, he listened, answered and discussed the things that were on their mind, because what mattered to them, mattered to him. 

It took us two hours to walk a few hundred yards. We hadn’t expected anything else. Everyone locally has seen people wave hello to him as he cycles past, or watched him get off his bike to talk to someone about a housing problem, get an update on their immigration status or just ask about their family — to listen and to take action on their behalf. 

Annette is a local Labour Party activist who has helped at Jeremy’s monthly surgery since he first won the seat of Islington North, 38 years ago.

She says: “In the early days it was in a huge room, milling with people. Jeremy set up an urn and brought milk and teabags and loads of paper cups, and said: ‘Could you give them a cup of tea while they’re waiting?”

“I couldn’t believe my ears! I looked at these dozens of people and he wanted to give them a cup of tea so they felt comfortable about being there.

“We could be there until, 10, 11 o’clock in the evening and he’d still go on seeing people and talking to them, reassuring them, helping them.”

Corbyn wins election after election with huge majorities because his constituents know he cares about them. Removing the Labour whip, without justification or due process, is grossly insulting to them as well as an afront to democracy itself.

Islington Friends of Jeremy Corbyn is a group of people in the constituency who are campaigning to have him restored as our Labour MP.

On the anniversary of the whip being withdrawn, we are organising and supporting a whole range of actions. Please join us in demanding his immediate reinstatement into the Parliamentary Party.

What you can do

Events and activities are listed on the Islington Friends of Jeremy Corbyn website: islingtonfriendsofjeremycorbyn.uk.

Follow us on twitter @Islington4JC and join our Twitterstorm at 7pm on Thursday November 18 (#RestoreTheWhip #ReinstateJeremyCorbyn).

Email your Labour MP and ask them what they are doing to bring the party together again.

If you are a Labour Party member, email the NEC to ask them to take action and to ensure that the party upholds fair and transparent processes, and reflects the diverse socialist traditions that have always been its strength. 

Share the letter from 25 of Jeremy’s Jewish constituents who want to see the whip restored.